Women Working in the State and U.S. More Stressed Than They Were a Year Ago

Wednesday, May 1st, 2024 -- 10:01 AM

(Natalie Eilbert, Green Bay Press-Gazette) Working women in the U.S. say they're more stressed than they were a year ago, worried about their safety, and stuck doing the lion's share of household chores despite living with a partner, according to an annual report from the world's largest professional services network.

According to Natalie Eilbert with the Green Bay Press-Gazette, COVID-19, often the culprit of recent plunges in workplace attitudes, especially hurt female professionals, who shouldered the burden of domestic duties, child care and, occasionally, adult caregiving, according to Deloitte's Women@Work 2024: A Global Outlook report.

Even though issues like burnout and exclusion were less prevalent in 2023, such themes continued at concerning rates into this year, said Emma Codd, Deloitte's global chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer, and Elizabeth Faber, Deloitte's global chief people and purpose officer.

"Women who take on the greatest share of household responsibility are far less likely to say they have good mental health than those who do not," Codd and Faber wrote in their executive summary.

"And some women fear that a lack of affordable childcare means that they may have to choose between their careers and their responsibilities at home." That fear permeates across Wisconsin.

According to Kane Insights, a report from marketing and publicity agency Kane Communications based largely in Wisconsin, 50% of the state's working women considered quitting work constantly, often or sometimes in 2021.

Where 50% of U.S. women said they were experiencing notable stress levels in both the Kane and Deloitte reports, heightened stress affected 68% of Wisconsin women. That was especially true for women in higher-risk jobs such as manufacturing, transportation, energy and agriculture, 78% of whom say they're operating with higher stress loads.

It's having a deep impact on the labor force. According to a 2023 report from High Roads Strategy Center, part of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Wisconsin's women labor force participation dropped below 60% for the first time since the late 1980s.

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